A drawer that sticks is distressing, and the reason for the prob-lem is not always apparent.
A drawer may be too full. Runners may rub, joints may be loose or the sliding mechanism may be defective.If a drawer sticks because it's too full, try working a thin metal table knife inside. Then move it around to rearrange the drawer's contents. Or remove the drawer below it, press upward on the bottom of the stuck drawer and slide forward. If the drawer bottom is warped, remove the bottom, flip it over and reinstall. Or replace it. The bottom usually slides out for repairs, but on some drawers you have to disassemble and rebuild the drawer.
Humidity may swell the wood, causing parts to rub. This is usually a temporary problem that disappears during dry weather. If not, check to see where the drawer is binding, then sand or use a plane to lightly shave some wood from the affected area.
Look for shiny spots on sticking drawer: On a sticking drawer with wooden runners, look for shiny spots on the sliding parts. Also look for signs of uneven wear - especially on the bottom of runners - and for looseness, breakage or missing screws or nails.
Rub a sticking runner with candle wax or soap, or spray it with silicone lubricant. If it still sticks, lightly plane the runner's bottom. Then rewax the runner.
If a runner is damaged, remove it by cutting away with a fine-tooth panel or dovetail saw. Then plane or sand the area flush with the drawer bottom. Cut a new runner of straight-grain hardwood. Glue it to the drawer with carpenter's glue. Clamp it along its entire length until the glue is dry. Then drill pilot holes for nails and secure it with finishing nails.
If the sliding mechanism is plastic or metal, check the alignment of the parts and look for signs of looseness, breakage or missing fasteners. Inspect any rollers. If they don't operate smoothly, clean them with ammonia. If they're damaged, replace them.
To repair a loose wooden drawer glide, use a square to check that it's perpendicular to the drawer's front. Tighten or replace the screws.
Sometimes a drawer sticks because its joints are loose or no longer square.
Checking for squareness: To check for squareness, measure each side diagonally from inside corner to inside corner. They should be equal. If the drawer is out of square, disassemble it carefully. When separating the elements of the drawer, be careful not to chip or break the wood. If possible, gently pull the joints apart by hand. If you must use force to separate the parts, use a rubber mallet. Or use a hammer with a wood block between it and the drawer.
Once the drawer is disassembled, remove all old nails and scrape off the old glue. Then reglue the drawer pieces and hold them together with bar clamps. Check the joints with a rule during and after clamping. Adjust the clamps until the measurements are equal.
Flush-front drawers sometimes get pushed too far into the cabinet. To prevent this, glue and tack small wood blocks to the rear of the drawer runners to serve as stops.
To fix a split drawer bottom, glue a canvas strip across the underside of the split to reinforce the bottom.